So,

I have the entry level, $35 package that gives me the Aurora.

I have decided I am going to cash in this package and upgrade to either the Digital Pirate or Digital Freelancer package.

I am wanting a ship to do trading, and maybe a little bounty hunting in it if possible.

So, discussion, and pro's cons of these ships?

Cutlass or Freelancer? https://robertsspaceindustries.com/ship-specs

Cheers!

We'll have to wait and see, but it appears that the Freelancer could have the better straight line acceleration and speed, where the Cutlass has manoeuvrability.

Freelancer
More Cargo (20t vs 10t)
larger power plant (5 vs 4)
Larger Main Engine (2 tr5 vs 1 tr4
More Class 2 weapons (4 vs 1)
more class 5 weapons (1 vs 0)

Cutlass
More upgrade slots (12 vs 10)
more meanuvering thrusters (16 tr2 vs 8 tr2)
more clas 1 weapons (2 vs 0)
more class 4 weapons (2 vs 0)
Comes with docking collar
comes with tractor beam

So the freelancer is faster, has more cargo and more weapons. The cutlass is more meanuverable and more versatile (upgrade slots) plus it comes with a docking collar and tractor beam.

If you go here you can view them side by side and compare them.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/ship-specs

Also, you might consider the avenger as it is the same size as cutlass but cheaper.

Maybe a good option for me would be the Freelancer, so then I can use it for cargo hauling for $$ if I don't have anything else, and then maybe pick up an Avenger in the future, or save up in game for Cutlass or whatever.

So many choices

I may wait until they have the Cutlass available in the Hangar so I can have a look at it before deciding. The Freelancer is pretty cool, might need someone along as a gunner with me though, any volunteers??

Thanks for the info, will think about it a bit more and decide.

Cheers!

What's an upgrade slot? Any news on what it does?

Yea the upgrade slots are used for extras like making your engines less visible or adding in a CIC unit or adding in point defense turrets or things like that. They dont adding to your ship they only modify it slightly.

So if you had an engine modifier it might make the engine give a higher top speed at the cost of acceleration or it might cut acceleration and top speed but make it more stealthy. Stuff like that.

They have not gone into a lot of detail only given a few examples of what it might be used for.

Wish we knew more about the ships before purchasing as they're so damn expensive. $100 for the Cutlass and $115 for the Hornet. That's some serious dollars for no concrete stats or performance figures. This is the only reason that's stopping me from pledging more.

I'd like to buy more ships, considering that these prices have been stated as being cheaper that what will be in game, but the rational part of me just can't get over that hurdle of paying that much for something I know nothing of.

The gamer part of me keeps yelling "take my money". The gamer/sim side of me says that speed will be a big factor in a combat game.. so I'm thinking the Avenger or M50 will be the choice. With speed you can dictate the fight and as we all know that's a huge advantage.

The Avenger is supposedly fast with a big gun in the nose. Perfect for boom'n'zoom sniping then getting out of dodge.

Sorry Mojo, derailed your thread a little.

On topic Cutlass v Freelancer, from what I've gathered the Freelancer is more for trading and long distance hauling while the Cutlass is the better fighter, more maneuverable, with limited cargo capacity (10t).

It depends on what you want to do in the game. IMO I'd buy the Cutlass unless I wanted to straight up trade. The Cutlass seems to be a slightly better 325, a versatile ship that can hold it's own in a fight.

But ofc these are all guesses and what I've read on the forums.

Yep, Cutlass seems a great mix between 300i and Freelancer. I might go for that one in the future.

Some good discussion here, thanks, that is what I was hoping for.

I guess what I have to decide if I want something versatile (cutlass) or more focused on trading/exploration (freelancer).

My thoughts right now are leaning towards having the explorer/trader. That way, if I lose all my ships, I still have a good means of making back some credits via trading.

Thanks for the info, Master. I guess I'll wait until the beta dogfighting module before deciding on ships

Anyone know when is the dogfighting module coming out? I know it's later this year but if it's Dec... well we have until 26 November for these pledge packages.

Past that I don't know if it means we'll lose alpha/beta access and SQN42 or if it means that we'll lose the packaged LTI on ships. The biggest drawcard for me is the LTI.

I caved and bought a Hornet for some fun while keeping my Aurora LX for cargo hauling. I figure that with the LTI that comes with that ship, when the game is released I should be able to sell it for a profit (real world or UEC) considering that the ship prices now are said to be heavily discounted.

With that mentality, I'm thinking of buying more ships before LTI expires. From what I've read later packages may not come with LTI.

K,

Pulled the trigger on the Digital Freelancer package, upgrading my Scout package.

Will have to wait until I get home tonight to take a look at my new ship

I chose the Freelancer mostly due to having the extra cargo for trading capacity.

I may pick up an Avenger before pledges close as a dedicated dogfighter and bounty hunting ship.

LTI doesn't matter THAT much, it was explained that if you don't have LTI, you just pay a small fee to keep your insurance going. It might have been better if they stayed out of the whole LTI in the first place, given he controversy and confusion around it.

WynnTTr,

Here is expected dates of releases:

http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Anticipated_release_schedule

Dogfighting module not until December.

I can't help but think they would be smart to leave pledge packages open until after that module has been out for a while. Thinking it would help the sales quite a bit.

Was looking around on the site today and I was wondering...

Who the F would buy the completionist package?

$15000

Really...OMG!

S

There are about 10 of those sold afaik. (rich people with more money then they know what to do with but who really wanted this game to succeed.)

If they re-released their limited ships I think that would net them a tidy sum. There's always a post about people missing out and hoping for some limited ships to come back. I'm in that crowd.
Didn't really get into it seriously until a couple of weeks ago so missed out on the opportunity for the 350r, the m50 and Scythe. I'd get the 350r in a heartbeat.

I'm looking for a third ship now. Got my Aurora for cargo runs, got Hornet for combat, need an allrounder type. Thinking either Cutlass or Avenger. Cutlass cos it's maneuverable and well armed with a tractor beam, 10t cargo. Avenger cos it's got a big gun upfront, turns like a brick but very fast. Thinking boom'n'zoom tactics. Hmmm.. decisions, decisions.

Soooo... Haven't been following the game as I should, and I can't access the site right now due to work filters. I purchased the bounty hunter edition back when the 300i was one of only a few choices available. Now I see a 350r, m50, etc. Is the 300i still expected to be a decent fighter/lone wolf ship, or do I need to look at a ridiculously priced upgrade?

Santhonax, the 300i looks to be a good ship, I had one too but changed it for the 315p as exploration is what I want to do, you can get a 325a which is the "fighter" version of the 300 series, the 350r is a twin engine racer but in the details it is built lighter and therefore be a bit more fragile than the 300i or 325a. All these things have still to be "balanced" in the dog fighting module due out in December.

You can melt your package to get another one, but be careful as some packages don't come with Alpha, Beta or even game access.
The 315p and 325a are upgrade ships and don't come with a game

Thanks for the info Alicatt.

Seems a bit like skipping to the end of the book. These should be in the game for us as you play the game and build up. Progression is what makes a game like this fun. I'm afraid people are using bigger and bigger purchases as a way of enjoying the game before you can play it, but only to miss out on gameplay when it actually comes out. I understand supporting the game, I got the aurora package too for a fall back ship, even if small. At this point though, they're well covered for funds.
Just a thought, people can and will spend their money how they wish.

A question for those that have upgraded, I currently have the digital bounty hunter package, but I am starting to really like the Freelancer. How do you upgrade an existing package?

If you go into 'your hangar' on the website, then find your pledge and select to 'exchange for store credits'.

You will then have the credits in your account.

Buy the new one, at checkout, there is a button to click that allows you to use your credits, then you can specify how much to use.

Worked for me yesterday.

There are no more upgrade packs. It's all individual ships now and the 325a comes in it's own package with alpha/beta, hangar, UEC, etc.. Arbiter Pack. You can melt "redeem" your current pack for store credits and pay the difference. If you bought your 300i pack a while ago you should be veteran backer status at least for LTI on the Arbiter pack.

]

Yeah I agree with you RK but these ships are beginner ships or at best midline ships. The big boys like the 350r, m50, Starfarer, Idris and heavy bombers are the end game. Still gotta work for them. I'm with you in that I don't understand what's the appeal in getting ALL of the ships now. Not on a price point, it's their money after all, but I'm just thinking what the hell they're going to do in game when they have everything there right at the start.



Yeah you can "melt" packages, check out the ship in the hangar and keep on melting to your heart's content until they're flagged as "used". Not too sure when that will be. Probably dogfighting module?

I am a veteran backer, so getting the LTI for an upgrade would be nice, but I'm hesitant to actually upgrade to the "combat" variant of the 300i if it's possible to simply upgrade my stock 300i with the appropriate equipment later. In-game I will likely be doing a fair amount of combat, but would also like to pursue some limited exploring and general roaming about/limited trading.

I guess my question then becomes one of: are they still planning to allow us to upgrade/swap out specific hardware on our ships (as opposed to only changing "mods" in augmentation slots)? Looking at the 315p for example: the only major changes I see are an upgraded engine and sensors/tractor beam. Seems silly to me to spend money on that ship if I can simply alter my stock 300i to have the same/similar sensors a few days into playing the game, while also upgrading my weapons/engine to accomodate a better fighting platform (just personal opinion here, I understand some folks wanting to get better equip straight out of the gate). With the possible exception of how the "frame" of the ship is built, if we can change around the specific hardware then I feel fine with the stock 300i, as the only thing I'm losing is a little time by not having it already upgraded.

Now if you cannot alter your hardware, or if the frames themselves are substantially different between variants, that would alter this whole equation...

Yes, the ships will be fully customizable. Everything will be customizable afaik. The mods are just one MORE thing you can customize to change the base function of the ship but the thrusters, engines, weapons etc can all be customized.

Frames cant be changed. But this is only an issue in the 300 series with the 350r because it's frame adds another engine and removes cargo space. But I dont think any other example of that exists yet.

Excellent, thanks for the info. As such I'll just stick with the 300i since if I get the 325a I'll just have to swap out the sensors and possibly a weapon slot for a tractor beam, whereas if I went for the 315p I'd just have to upgrade the weaponry/engines. No matter what I was looking at an upgrade, so might as well start from scratch.

Of course, I now have to see if pay-day forces me to pick up a trader or not...

Sounds like one of the new stretch goals is to allow the user some control over a limited number of facilities or something like that. I will open the first SimHQ Red Light District.

S